The Leader’s Floor Lookout: Week of July 14, 2025

We must maintain our military superiority and keep Americans safe as threats to our national security from around the world rise. House Republicans are bringing legislation to the floor that makes significant investments in our defense to accomplish those goals by supporting our servicemembers, providing vital resources to our military, restoring deterrence, defending our border, and promoting technological innovation. 

The U.S. military is the strongest fighting force in the world, thanks to our dedicated servicemembers. Our legislation includes a 3.8 percent pay increase for all military personnel, which goes into effect January 2026, in addition to continuing the historic pay raises enacted in Fiscal Year 2025 for junior enlisted servicemembers. The bill also works to improve servicemember quality of life, readiness, and slow permanent change of station moves, which will save over $662 million.

To support the superiority of America’s military, our legislation invests in modernization of the nuclear triad, hypersonics programs, and in 5th and 6th generation aircraft. Additionally, the bill provides $13 billion for missile defense and space programs to grow and bolster the Golden Dome efforts, as well as $148 billion for Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation to ensure our military is prepared to address the threats of today and tomorrow.

The FY26 Defense Appropriations bill also secures funding to combat drug trafficking and manufacturing, providing $1.15 billion for counter drug programs, increasing funding for the National Guard Counterdrug Program, and moving Mexico to U.S. Southern Command’s jurisdiction from U.S. Northern Command’s for better oversight and coordination. 

While supporting our national defense, our legislation also cuts waste, fraud, and abuse, reinstating fiscal sanity in defense spending. The bill codifies President Trump executive orders and the Department’s work with DOGE, improving areas where the Pentagon could be more efficient. It also protects taxpayer dollars by prohibiting funding for DEI efforts, Critical Race Theory, federal government censorship, sex-change surgeries, UNRWA, drag queen shows, and vaccine and mask mandates.

H.R. 4016, the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2026, introduced by Rep. Ken Calvert, strengthens America’s defense by investing in innovation in military superiority, supporting our servicemembers and their families, combatting drug trafficking, promoting fiscal responsibility, and ensuring the Department is focused on its primary duty to keep our people safe. 

The United States military is the strongest in the world, and it’s crucial that we keep it that way by responsibly providing for America’s defense. House Republicans will do everything in our power to ensure that America, our interests, and the safety of our people always prevail.

A CBDC, or central bank digital currency, is a sovereign digital currency issued and regulated by a government and recorded on a digital ledger controlled by that government – giving the government the ability to monitor any transactions and use the currency as a financial weapon to stifle political adversity. 

While decentralized digital currency like Bitcoin is outside the control of any one person, group, or entity, and fosters marketplace competition, a government-controlled CBDC, if it is not modeled to emulate cash, allows unelected bureaucrats to collect transaction data on and surveil citizens.

For example, in China, the Chinese Communist Party created a CBDC that tracks citizens’ digital transactions, and then uses that data to reward or punish them for their financial behavior through a social credit system. Additionally, in Canada, former Prime Minister Trudeau froze bank accounts and blocked crypto donations to crack down on protesting truckers and their supporters.

In 2022, the Biden Administration indicated its interest in creating a similar surveillance style CBDC, issuing an Executive Order prompting extensive CBDC research and development while disregarding Americans’ financial privacy. Thankfully, President Trump recognizes the dangers of CBDCs and has signed an Executive Order prohibiting the pursuit of one by federal agencies.

We cannot allow any future administration to wreak havoc on Americans’ financial privacy and individual freedom by creating a CBDC under the complete control of the administrative state, allowing them to track and collect Americans’ financial data, as well as potentially censor and oppress Americans based on that data. House Republicans are bringing legislation to codify President Trump’s EO by banning the development of a CBDC.

Majority Whip Tom Emmer’s legislation, H.R. 1919, the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act, blocks the Federal Reserve from directly or indirectly issuing a CBDC to any individual, prevents the Federal Reserve from using a CBDC to implement monetary policy, and requires Congress to authorize the issuance of any CBDC, protecting Americans’ financial privacy and freedom from government control.

House Republicans are fighting to ensure any creation of a CBDC upholds American citizens’ values and rights, including financial privacy and individual sovereignty. 
 

As cryptocurrency and digital assets grow in popularity and potential to shape future internet technology and monetary policy, America needs a clear regulatory framework for digital asset market participants, which will promote innovation and protect American consumers.

Without regulatory clarity, responsible actors who would innovate and grow new goods and services in this rising digital market are hindered and unprotected, while bad actors who attempt to use the lack of certainty in the new technology flourish – and confusion prevents the public from telling which is which. 

Meanwhile, regulators like the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) have taken a regulation-by-enforcement approach to digital asset regulation that leaves developers, brokers, dealers, and consumers in the dark, while expanding their own power and jurisdiction at will and acting without direction from Congress. 

It is vital Congress establish a clear regulatory framework for digital assets to strengthen consumer protections that aren’t in place today, promote innovation, increase transparency in both federal requirements and market participants, strengthen the market by promoting digital asset project development, and establish clear lines between SEC and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) jurisdictions.

House Republicans are bringing legislation that would allow digital assets and financial innovation to thrive under regulatory certainty and consumer protections in the digital marketplace – ensuring the United States remains a global leader in the finance sector now and in the future.

H.R. 3633, the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act, introduced by Financial Services Chairman French Hill, establishes a clear and functional regulatory framework for digital assets, clarifies the lines between the CFTC’s jurisdiction over digital commodities and the SEC’s jurisdiction over digital assets, promotes innovation and strengthens the digital asset market, and implements strong consumer protections and accountability.

The United States cannot be left behind in the global race to establish strong digital asset frameworks and innovate in the sector. This bill sets our country up for future success and global leadership in the digital market. 

---

Unleashing Stablecoin Innovation and Protecting Consumers with Regulatory Clarity

Stablecoins are a kind of cryptocurrency that minimize price volatility by maintaining a stable value, usually pegged to a fiat currency such as the U.S. dollar and backed by cash, U.S. Treasuries, and similar high-quality assets. They allow for faster, cheaper, and more efficient digital transactions around the world.

However, while stablecoins are currently used as a growing payment type in the United States, we have very little federal oversight of the area or regulatory clarity. From April 2024 to April 2025, the outstanding supply of U.S. dollar stablecoins increased 54 percent, reaching over $220 billion. Without a clear and safe regulatory framework, consumers lack protections, innovation is stunted, and U.S. dollar dominance is threatened. 

This week, House Republicans are bringing forward legislation to change that. Our legislation would establish a clear regulatory framework for payment stablecoins, safeguarding digital assets from potential targeting by future administrations, boosting demand for U.S. treasuries, ensuring robust consumer protections, and upholding the U.S. dollar's role as the global reserve currency.

By creating regulatory clarity and supporting the development of U.S. stablecoins with safety rails, the bill helps speed up international payment transactions, increase access to working capital for U.S. companies operating internationally, and promote investment and innovation. Also, the bill mandates that payment stablecoins be backed by high-quality liquid assets, predominantly U.S. Treasury bonds and bills, generating new demand for U.S. government debt.

It is essential that we establish a clear regulatory framework so the U.S. stablecoin industry can expand and innovate while keeping consumers safe, securing the U.S. dollar’s global dominance.

S. 1582, the GENIUS Act, sponsored by Sen. Bill Hagerty, puts in place a clear regulatory framework for U.S. payment stablecoins, fostering innovation and growth, prioritizing protections for consumers, creating a significant source of demand for U.S. Treasuries, and ensuring the U.S. dollar remains the dominant global currency. 

As the world rushes to build frameworks for stablecoins to get a leg up in the race to innovate and develop in the digital asset sector, we must act to make sure we are not left in the past. This bill ensures America’s currency remains dominant now and in the future, advancing President Trump’s pursuit to make the U.S. the crypto capital of the world.